Mars Pet Food Recall

Mars Pet Food announced a voluntary recall of many brands of dog food and cat food on 9/12/08 due to “potential contamination with Salmonella”. The recall only affects products sold in the United States.

Products affected include Old Roy Dog Food, Pedigree Dog Food, Special Kitty Cat Food and several lesser known brands including Members Mark Pet Foods and Wegman’s Pet Foods. The press release states: “Salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, and, if there is cross contamination caused by handling of the pet food, in people as well, especially children, the aged, and people with compromised immune systems.”

Quoting the Mars Pet Care website: “The company stopped production at the Everson facility on July 29, 2008 when it was alerted of a possible link between dry pet food produced at the plant and two isolated cases of people infected with Salmonella Schwarzengrund.” Let me repeat – ‘the company stopped production on July 29, 2008’.

From Mars Pet Care’s action of ‘stopping production’ on July 29, 2008 – ten days later an initial limited recall was announced (Pedigree Dog Food only sold in Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada); 34 days after this, the recall was updated, now including many products sold all across the United States. A total of 44 days passed from when Mars Pet Care states they stopped production, to the recent recall announcement covering 105 different brands, sizes, and varieties of dog food and cat food.

Remember, at the Pet Food Safety meeting the FDA held this past spring, the director of the FDA proudly announced that the action response time for the pet food industry is better than that of the human food side. Hmmmm.

Mars states they are “continuing to work collaboratively with the FDA to determine the nature and source” of the salmonella. The release does not state when Mars contacted the FDA regarding the possible contamination.

If you are anyone you know is feeding their pet a dog food or cat food made by Mars Pet Care, please take notice of this recall and take the necessary precautions.